Government-run system dooms health care

Sunday

Aug 9, 2009 at 12:01 AM

The column titled "Why single-payer system is needed" (Aug. 2) is a sterling example of disinformation and distortion used by socialists to sell their plan for government takeover of health care from the private sector.

By Avery Brinkley Jr.Special to the Star-Banner

The column titled "Why single-payer system is needed" (Aug. 2) is a sterling example of disinformation and distortion used by socialists to sell their plan for government takeover of health care from the private sector.Most of the statistics quoted by the author have been repudiated for a variety of reasons, which are beyond the purpose of this commentary. Suffice it to say this is how the left and its media outlets constantly attempt to brainwash the American people in order to accomplish their expansion of government and destruction of capitalistic principles, which embrace self-sufficiency and freedom to pursue the American dream.The U.S. government has shown persistent inability to operate any enterprise efficiently, cost effectively and without establishing complicated overregulation. Examples include our almost bankrupt Social Security program and Amtrak. Such government programs inevitably result in additional taxation in exchange for less quality and availability of services.The writer's statistic regarding the overhead of Medicare vs. private insurers is false, as Medicare does not include many overhead costs in its budget, instead transferring them to the providers (doctors and hospitals). If one includes these expenses, Medicare, in fact, shows overhead costs equal to or greater than those of private insurers.For doctors, the overhead burden has increased about 25 percent over the past decade without any increase in payments, resulting in more doctors unable to accept Medicare patients. This is a problem which will worsen under a government-run single-payer plan.The U.S. health care system is the most advanced in the world, and not because of government. It has a capitalistic foundation which undergirds development of new technologies and treatments which are rationed in other countries, such as Canada and Great Britain, resulting in delayed care and higher mortality rates for heart disease and cancer in these countries. This is why Canadians and Brits who need certain life-saving treatments come to America and pay out-of-pocket to get the care which Americans enjoy.Perhaps the most glaring consumer-related problem facing the U.S. health care system is the provision of care for the impoverished uninsured, which number about half of the often-quoted "47 million" figure, with the difference consisting of mostly young people and adults who can afford insurance but elect not to carry it.Another problem which must be addressed are the huge price discrepancies in drug prices among various nations, primarily due to the pharmaceutical lobby in Washington. Until recently, it was our own government that prohibited Americans from buying medications from abroad. This is but another example of government interfering with capitalism by preventing us from purchasing products at the lowest available price.The proponents of a government-run single-payer system claim such a system will emphasize preventive care, when we already know that you can tell patients what they should do, but the final choice is up to them. It is fact that obesity is now epidemic in America, doubling over the past 20 years and exceeding the rate in any other developed country. This alone accounts for any differences in life expectancy of Americans compared with other developed nations. This is to say that prevention is already a key part of the current system but in many cases falls on deaf ears.Finally, the proposed government takeover of health care not only fails to address tort reform, which accounts for a large percentage of the costs of our health care, but imposes numerous new restrictions on patients and providers while funding the cost of care to illegal aliens and "special situations," such as abortion.

The average American considers health care the most important service available and has come to expect high quality and prompt service. Our system provides the most available, most advanced care in the world, in contrast to nations whose health care systems are government-run. It has been estimated that health care comprises about 17 percent of the U.S. economy. There is no doubt that should a government-run single-payer system displace the private insurance industry that costs (in the form of national debt and taxes) will rise for all Americans and quality care will be rationed since compensation to doctors would not exceed their overhead costs.As always, those who advocate government control of every aspect of our lives doom us and our children to serfdom. In the case of health care, the solution rests with congressional promotion of competition in the private sector across state lines and private-sector coverage of the uninsured at reasonable rates devoid of pre-existing conditions restrictions - not a socialist takeover engineered and rushed through Congress.Americans want quality, availability and free choice, not further government intrusion into their privacy.Dr. Avery Brinkley Jr. is an Ocala radiologist who has practiced medicine in Florida for 29 years.